Is Blaine Gabbert a new man in San Francisco?
The former first-round pick was thrust into a less-than-desirable situation in Jacksonville and performed like it, hurling 22 touchdowns and 24 picks over 27 starts. The Jaguars limped to a 5-22 record in those games.
His name has become synonymous with the "draft-bust" moniker -- an unfair label that should reflect more on the team that picked him than the player -- and now he's here in San Francisco, starting in place of a benched Colin Kaepernick, another undesirable situation where his offensive line and top targets are in shambles.
Can he be a different player this time around?
"Going into my fifth year, just the experiences I've had preparing for games, playing in games, starting in games, being a backup quarterback," Gabbert said, via CSN Bay Area. "It's valuable over time to have those repetitions in practice and on the game field."
He added: "I think pressure is what you apply on yourself. You put it on yourself to succeed because you know you're better than how you're playing. You know you're better than the way you're performing. You put pressure on yourself to do better."
The sad part is that we'll never really know if Gabbert could be a serviceable NFL quarterback. Yes, he was bad in Jacksonville even when surrounding talent was taken into consideration. But his pit stop in San Francisco reminds us of how cruel the NFL can be to quarterbacks that just aren't ready to begin with.
